Sauðárkrókur

A severe northeast blizzard in northwest Iceland led police to close a 120 km stretch of Route 1 including Holtavörðuheiði, prompting the Icelandic Red Cross to open emergency shelters in Blönduós and Hrútafjörður for stranded travelers.

Berry farm owners Bjarni and Hrafnhildur at Vellir in Svarfaðardal report that this year’s wild blueberry harvest has started unusually early, with three shipments already arriving for sale.

A farmer in Skagafjörður faces significant losses, having to replant around 20% of their pastures after major winter floods. Héraðsvötn breached a protective embankment, burying the fields in sand and silt.

This breeding season for ptarmigans has been the fourth worst on record in northern Iceland, due in part to a June snowstorm.

No one was injured in a landslide that occurred yesterday in Varmahlíð, North Iceland, though two houses sustained significant damage. Nine homes on four different streets in the town have been evacuated. The evacuation will remain in force until after the region’s local Civil Protection and Emergency Management Committee meets this morning to assess the […]

Vegagerðin (the Road and Coastal Administration) is encouraging people to postpone journeys on Route 1 in the west and northwest of the country due to significant amounts of tar bleeding from the road surface and causing considerable danger and damage to vehicles. Clumps of tar collect and harden on the tyres of passing vehicles, making driving treacherous. Chunks fly off and have been causing some serious damage.

A sperm whale beached itself in the northwest Iceland region of Skaga, the Northwest Iceland Nature Agency reports.

The building, 30 feet to the gable, is buried in snow.

100 dead horses have been found following the major storm that hit Iceland last week. Some are still missing and the search continues. Some horses are known to remain in danger and vets say that farmers are exhausted.

A storm bringing hurricane force winds and blizzard conditions is raging across the country.

“I could hardly believe my eyes,” said Ingólfur Sveinsson, resident of the Skagi peninsula.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N5) was confirmed in multiple dead gulls found at Blönduós and in a female duck found dead at Sauðárkrókur in North Iceland. Authorities urge biosecurity for poultry, public reporting of dead or sick wildlife, and caution by hunters.